Beijing blog gives expats a hand
When Dr Richard Saint Cyr tells people he voluntarily swapped the spotlessly clean air of California for the grey, grungy skies of Beijing, he is met with raised eyebrows and incredulous expressions.
Why did he do it? His financier wife, Joanna Wang, was posted back to her home city, and he followed. Once there, Saint Cyr, 44, saw a chance to combine his profession with his self-confessed geeky passion for computers and the internet.
Unsurprisingly, pollution is by far the hottest topic, especially in recent months, when the air in Beijing reached suffocating levels. The US embassy's website uses an air quality index that says more than 500 is hazardous; some accounts had the January index at a dangerously high 900.
"Where I was working in Sonoma, California, it usually registered as five," says Saint Cyr. "When it reached 900 in Beijing, it was extraordinarily dangerous, a public health emergency. I was telling people not to go outside.
Unfortunately, you do have to pay attention when you are buying food
"That is where social media can be very useful. Originally, I started the website and blog aimed at expatriates coming here; everyone is always nervous as to whether the air is as bad as they have heard."
